food

For many immigrants with hopes of making a living off farming, owning and operating a farm can seem like an impossible task between startup costs, attaining Minnesota agricultural knowledge and finding a market for produce. The Minnesota Food Association (MFA) works to alleviate some of these challenges by offering an in-depth, hands-on farm training program for immigrants, refugees and other individuals from historically marginalized communities. As part of this program, many Somali immigrants, including Naima Dhore, have been able to find success in organic farming, sustaining the food system and carving out a niche for immigrant farmers to develop and hone agricultural skills. “The most important piece in the process for me has been letting [members of the East African community] know where their food is coming from and what their responsibilities are in terms of taking care of this planet that we all share,” said Dhore. “That’s the biggest takeaway.”

Along with a team of artists, organizers and educators, poet Keno Evol held the first Because Black Life Conference in the Twin Cities. The conference focused conversation around issues that impact black communities in our neighborhoods and making space for networking, healing and community building. “Black thought, black people and Black concerns. This is a bridge for networking which we will leave, perhaps, with mentors and mentees. We want to have community engagement initiatives from our conversations. Continue Reading

It was one of the last hot days of September, and an impromptu group of people gathered underneath a big “EVERYONE WELCOME” sign on the front of the brand new green and beige building for a press conference. The Seward Friendship store was set to open by the end of the week. It was the new branch of one of the largest co-ops in the country, right on the border of the Bryant and Central neighborhoods in South Minneapolis. The area is both home to a critical mass of the city’s low-income communities and long-time home to many of Minneapolis’ people of color.

The press conference was not without tension. Activists from CANDO, the neighborhood group representing South Minneapolis’ diverse Central neighborhood, had spent all summer knocking on doors trying to get neighbors interested in their petition. At the time, earlier in the summer, chances seemed slim that anything would happen.

“We don’t have any leverage,” I remember one of the CANDO faithful telling me at a meeting a few months before.

By July, negotiations had fallen apart between the neighborhood groups and The Seward Co-op. The new store on 38th Street was in the heart of the South Minneapolis food desert and along one of the city’s few historically African-American business corridors. For most of the summer, the parties seemed far apart on the key issues: hiring practices that reflected the diverse demographics of the neighborhood and discounts on food and membership for low-income neighbors. In fact, the two sides couldn’t even agree on what to call a potential agreement: CANDO was demanding a CBA (community benefits agreement) while the Seward staffers had, for a while, offered an MBA (mutual benefits agreement). Neither side was happy with the other’s position, and after a few heated and unproductive community meetings, the official word from Seward was that they were not going to sign anything before the October opening of the new store. Any agreement would wait until next year, months after the crucial hiring had been completed. That timeline did not sit well with concerned neighbors. Continue Reading

On Tuesday, August 25, 80 people gathered at Olson Townhomes to participate in the North Minneapolis Laotian Garden Tour. Laotian gardeners led neighbors and fellow gardeners through dense rows of long beans, hot peppers, Vietnamese mint, cucumbers and tomatoes. Channel 5 and channel 11 also came. After the tour participants enjoyed delicious kou pun curry made with vegetables harvested from the garden

The garden tour was organized to highlight the importance of the garden to the Laotian community. The Laotians hope to be able to preserve the garden even when the construction of the Bottineau LRT and related development comes. Continue Reading

ByAlfred Walking Bull | May 5, 2015

The city of Minneapolis is anxiously anticipating the opening of The Sioux Chef’s first venue: Tatanka Truck. Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota) made waves over the last year by introducing his unique approach to Indigenous cuisine. Born and raised on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, he attended college at Black Hills State University. Part of his drive to create an Indigenous cuisine, free of processed sugars, dairy or flour, came from just being a chef in Minneapolis since the early 2000s,

“I had been cooking since I was 13 in the Black Hills, in tourist restaurants. And I thought It was silly that there was no Native restaurants,” Sherman said. Continue Reading

Organizers of a fast-food worker strike scheduled for later this month say the strike threat prompted McDonald’s to announce it is giving workers a pay raise. However, the strike is still on because the raise is not enough and most McDonald’s employees won’t get it.McDonald’s President and CEO Steve Easterbrook announced on Wednesday that the company would be paying workers at least $1 more than the local minimum wage starting in July. McDonald’s will also let workers who have been with the company for more than a year earn up to five days of paid time off each year. However, that only applies to corporate owned stores. There are three corporate owned stores in the Twin Cities area — two of them in Minneapolis — with the rest owned by franchisees. Continue Reading

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Today more than 2 million Americans, including around 10,000 men and women in Minnesota, are in jail or prison in the United States, the highest mass incarceration rate of any country in the world.

On Tuesday, Nov. 20, “States of Incarceration”—the first national traveling exhibit and coordinated public dialogue exploring the history and future of mass incarceration in the US—will open in the Irvine Gallery at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

The States of Incarceration project was created by university students from around the country, including University of Minnesota students who researched Minnesota’s high rate of Native imprisonment, which is 12 times higher than the white population.

In the exhibit, visitors can examine how centuries of Native trauma has shaped Minnesota prison population today, including unfair treaties, forced removal by the US government, the US-Dakota War of 1862 and Dakota concentration camp at Fort Snelling, and the Indian boarding school movement.

The exhibit also contains new content created by the Minnesota History Center and local partners, exploring local stories as well as artifacts made by formerly incarcerated people. Plus, see Pine Ridge artist Quinton Maldonado’s collection of ledger drawings—an art form created in captivity by Native people—where he draws parallels between Native history and Native imprisonment today.

“Long-term imprisonment is a new phase of historic trauma, breaking up families and eroding balance,” Maldonado says in his artist statement.

“States of Incarceration” is a project of Humanities Action Lab and was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Endowment for the Humanities, Whiting Foundation, Open Society Foundations and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Local contributors to the exhibit are Oyate Hotanin, American Indian Prison Project, InEquality, American Indian Movement Interpretive Center, The Circle of Peace Movement, Calee Cecconi, and the following programs at the University of Minnesota: the Institute for Advanced Study, the Heritage Studies and Public History program, the Department of History, the Department of American Indian Studies, the School of Architecture, the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota Libraries, and Liberal Arts Technologies and Innovation Services.

About the Minnesota History Center
The Minnesota History Center holds the vast collections of the Minnesota Historical Society and is home to the History Center museum with innovative exhibits, Gale Family Library, café and museum store. The History Center is located at 345 W. Kellogg Blvd. in St. Paul. For more information, visit www.minnesotahistorycenter.org.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories and connects people with history. Visit us at mnhs.org.

The Minnesota Historical Society is supported in part by its Premier Partners: Xcel Energy and Explore Minnesota Tourism.

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100 Years and Counting is one of three inaugural exhibitions in the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s new facility in the Pioneer Endicott building, opening in December 2018. The exhibition features approximately 45 works from the M’s remarkable collection of American art, from 100 years ago to today.

It invites a tumble into the depth and breadth of the M’s collection: early 20th century paintings, photographs, sculptures by Paul Manship and George Morrison, incredible ink and pastel drawings, mid-century studio craft, sculpture, prints, contemporary Native American art, and up-to-the-minute recent acquisitions by outstanding American artists.

This exhibition proves the point that Minnesota Museum of American Art has been around awhile—over 100 years, in fact—and that its American art collection reflects that visual trajectory. It also shows that the new M, in this stunning new building and home, is likewise continuing to grow, to thrive, to build—indeed, counting our years and our way into a new era of significance, art, and visual engagement.

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Learn traditional Somali dances, like the Jaandheer, in a workshop led by the Somali Museum Dance Troupe. Meaning big leap or step, Jaandheer originates in northern Somalia and

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Learn traditional Somali dances, like the Jaandheer, in a workshop led by the Somali Museum Dance Troupe. Meaning big leap or step, Jaandheer originates in northern Somalia and is danced at most Somali weddings and festive occasions.

The Somali Museum Dance Troupe studies and performs traditional dances from all regions of Somalia. Comprised of teens and young adults from the greater Twin Cities area, the troupe has performed for countless corporate, private and public events across Minnesota, North Dakota, Virginia, Ohio, and Texas.

This dance workshop is appropriate for all ages and is offered in conjunction with the exhibit Somalis + Minnesota.

Support for this program has been provided by the Marney and Conley Brooks Fund.

“Learning about what happened in the Rondo community while interviewing those who witnessed their homes being destroyed was heartbreaking,” says Morris. “It was astounding the resilience they showed. It lit a fire in me. Rondo never stopped trying to rebuild what was there. It gave me a lot of confidence in myself to go after what I love to do in life. I learned that I-94 going through Rondo was a power struggle to limit what the black community could actually do. It didn’t stop us at all.”

The 30-minute film screening will immediately be followed by a Q&A with the youth filmmakers and elders from the film and Rondo community. Refreshments will be served.

Storymobile, led by director Melvin Giles and manager Darius Gray, wanted to collect and preserve the historical memory of the Rondo neighborhood from a multigenerational perspective. Storymobile worked with Rondo youth to record stories of Rondo that give an intimate view of the impact the destruction of Rondo and construction of Interstate 94 had on people’s lives and how that impact continues today.

“If we know who we are and who we came from, it helps us to go forward in our lives,” says Donna Evans in the film. “If we know nothing about our history, then how are we to know about our future?”

Saint Paul Almanac is a literary-centered arts organization that has been publishing an annual book of Saint Paul stories and poems for more than a decade. We share stories across cultures and cultivate dialogue to promote understanding, relationships, and collaborative action.

In Black Ink is a social enterprise supporting and creating a rich literary culture in the African heritage community in Minnesota.

HSRA is dedicated to providing all young people a chance to realize their full potential, despite any previous setbacks. As we engage students through music and the exploration and operation of the music business, we demonstrate that core learning areas and real-world, twenty-first century skills can be acquired at the same time. More than just earning a high school diploma, HSRA prepares students for a positive post-secondary education and life.

SPNN’s mission is to empower people to use media and communications to better lives, use authentic voice, and build common understanding.

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The East Side Freedom Library invites you to join us for part II of our celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Labor and Black Lives Matter
Monday, January 21, 2019 at

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The East Side Freedom Library invites you to join us for part II of our celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Labor and Black Lives MatterMonday, January 21, 2019 at 7pm

ESFL continues our exploration of the labor movement’s relationship with other social movements with a panel which will discuss the past, present, and future of the labor movement’s engagement with movements against racism. Today, the most energized of these movements is the Movement for Black Lives and its associated organizations and struggles. Our panel will include participants in these movements as well as the labor movement.

Come join the conversation!

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East Side Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street, St. Paul
Free and open to all
info@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org and 651-230-3294

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(Monday) 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

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East Side Freedom Libraryemail info@eastsidefreedomlibrary.org or call 651-230-3294